Police investigate after teen finds body in Skyway

SKYWAY, Wash. - Residents of Skyway are waiting to hear how one man ended up dead in their neighborhood, while they also wonder how his body went undiscovered for several days -- perhaps weeks.

Tuesday afternoon at about 3:30 p.m., neighbors say a teenaged boy was walking toward the Greentree Apartments on S 125th Street when he smelled something awful off the side of the driveway. When he went to see what it was, he found a body decomposing down an embankment in thick brush.

King County investigators had to hack at bramble and sticker bushes to thoroughly investigate the scene and gather evidence. On Tuesday night, they had not discovered any weapons or obvious signs of foul play, but they said the odd location of the body made them classify the death as suspicious.

The body's state of decomposition made it difficult for them to identify whether there had been any trauma. The cause of death will be determined by the medical examiner. Investigators are also going through missing persons reports to see if there is a match. They only described the body as that of an adult male.

The grim discovery comes just steps away from another violent case that is still fresh. Sunday night a man was shot dead in the street just around the corner. "Detectives of course will look at that, but at this point, doesn't seem to be there's a connection," said King County Sergeant D.B. Gates.

Meanwhile, residents wait for word on the identity of the man found Tuesday afternoon, as they try to shake off the knowledge that his body had been lying there for quite awhile.

"I walk here every day," said Tony Ramos, as he looked toward the driveway that flanks the thick brush where the body was found. "To think that I walked by that is really weird to me. I can't fathom it yet, till I know more."